Brake-lever for railway hand-cars.



J. L. OBRIEN.

BRAKE LEVER FOR RAILWAY HAND CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAILZG. 1914. 1

Patented June 20, 1916.

JENNINGS L. OBRIEN, OF APPOMA'I'TOX, VIRGINIA.

BRAKE-LEVER FOR RAILWAY HAND-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 20, 1916.

Application filed March 26, 1914. Serial No. 827,291.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JENNINGS L. OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Appomattox, in the county of Appomattox and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake- Levcrs for Railway Hand-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in brake mechanisms and more particularly to a brake mechanism for use upon hand cars such as are employed upon railways, which cars are propelled by pumping of hand levers; and the primary object of the invention is the provision of a brake mechanism as specified embodying friction brake shoes for engagement with the peripheries of the traction wheels of the car, and an operating lever for said shoes which lever is positioned for operation of the person operating the hand lever of the car.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view this invention consists in such novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hand car used upon railways, showing the improved brake mechanism applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the brake lever, and Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the platform of an ordinary hand truck such as is employed in section work upon a road bed of a railway, and it has suspended below the platform 1 the traction wheels 2 and 3, which wheels are arranged in pairs and engage the rails of the railway, for travel thereover, and the platform has mounted thereon, the usual type of lever 4, which lever is pivoted intermediate its ends to a supporting frame 5, and operates a suitable mechanism for propelling the car, upon the pumping movement of the lever 1 as is common in hand cars of this construction.

The platform 1 has connected thereto and depending therefrom brackets 10, which brackets have pivotally connected to their lower ends, the bars 11. The bars 11 have friction brake shoes 12 mounted upon their terminal ends, which brake shoes are positioned for frictional engagement with the peripheries of the wheels 2 and 3 of the truck, to retard the rotation of the wheels for stopping the movement of the hand car. The inner end, or the ends opposite to those upon which the brake shoes 12 are mounted, are provided with longitudinally extending slots 13, in which slots is slidably seated a pin 14-. The pin 14 extends through the slots 13 in the ends of the lever 12, and also through an opening in a bar 15. The bar 15 is positioned vertically along one side of the platform 1, being slidably mounted in a guideway 16, and has its upper terminal end connected to the lever 17. The lever 17 extends along the side of the platform 1 of the hand car, and is pivotally connected to an upright 1.8, which upright is supported at one end of the platform 1, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The bar 15 is connected to the lever 17 substantially equi-distant of its ends, and at the center of the hand car 1, and the free end 19 of the lever 17 has a foot pedal 20 connected thereto, which foot pedal is positioned to one side of the ends of the lateral bar formed upon the operating lever 4, so that it may be easily and conveniently reached by the foot of a person operating the hand lever, for applying the brakes, without his leaving the position necessary for the operation of the hand lever.

In, the operation of the improved brake mechanism; when it is desired to apply the brakes to the peripheries-of the wheels 2 and 3 of the hand car, the lever 17 is actuated, by placing of a foot upon the foot pedal 20, and pressing downwardly upon the lever, which will move the vertical bar 15, causing the two bars 11, to move downwardly and outwardly from the center of the truck, or the pivotal connections between the bars and the rod 15, cansing the friction brake shoes 12 to move into engagement with the peripheries of the wheels 2 and 3, and retard the rotation of the wheels, bringing the hand car to a stop. Immediately upon release of the foot from the pedal 20, the rotation of the traction wheels, by the operation of the hand lever, will more the friction shoes out of engagement with the peripheries of the wheels, rock the bars 11, and synchronously cause the upright bar 15 to move vertically positioning the lever 17 for reoperation of the same and the brake shoes.

From the foregoing description taken in 7 Vhat I claim is The combination with a hand operated lever car having a platform and traction wheels carried by said platform, of friction brake shoes for peripheral frictional engagement with said traction wheels, bars pivotally connected to saidbrake shoes and having their inner ends pivotally connected to an upright bar, a lever pivotally connected to said platform and extending longitudinally along one side thereof, said lever being connected to said upright bar, for operating said brake shoes upon compression of said lever, said bars being pivotally mounted in brackets near their inner end thereby allowing the brake shoes to be set for reoperation.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JENNINGS L. OBRIEN.

Witnesses: 1

C. E. HUNTER, L. F. FERGUSON.

Ooples ot this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. 0. 

